Chapter 16
“Heh, denying it so gently. That’s exactly what makes you charming.”
“Oh, come on. Look properly. There are two possible versions of Iola here, and in one of them you’re engaged to Viretta.”
“That is incorrect.”
Iola looked fondly at Viretta and Ranken, who were sitting side by side and quietly piling up wrong answers together. Smiling broadly, he tapped the blackboard with his chalk.
“It’s all right. I’ll explain again, so please take your seats. The uncertainty of events that have not been observed is—”
* * *
Twenty minutes later,
“…and for that reason, the cat inside the box is simultaneously alive and dead until the box is opened. Do you understand?”
The blackboard was already covered completely in white chalk marks. When Iola tapped the remaining blank space lightly, the two of them nodded.
“If we apply the same theory, then Miss Viretta is, in the future, both engaged to me and not engaged to me at the same time. Do you understand?”
“Got it. So… the cat is immortal, right?”
“No. The cat is… a living corpse.”
Which meant he hadn’t understood at all.
Without letting his smile falter, Iola erased part of the blackboard with a cloth.
“It’s fine. I’ll explain again from the beginning.”
“No! It’s fine! You’ve already explained it seven times!”
“Yeah! Just admit it! There’s no hope for us!”
Having listened seven times to the story of whether the cat in the box was alive or dead, Viretta and Ranken recoiled in horror and waved their hands. Iola’s lecture, which had begun abruptly and continued for twenty minutes straight, was overwhelming.
Worse, even after hearing the same explanation seven times, they still didn’t understand it at all. It was an awkward situation.
“You can stop now. We can’t let that poor cat die an eighth time.”
“Why are you killing an innocent cat? It didn’t die. It’s immortal.”
“I said it’s a living corpse.”
“Neither of those is correct, but that’s all right. A true teacher must be able to explain the same thing a hundred times until the student understands. Being able to teach repeatedly is the joy of education.”
They were on the brink of starting another lecture.
Sensing danger, Viretta slammed the table and jumped to her feet.
“No, that won’t be necessary! I definitely understand now. I get the main point!”
“Well said!”
Ranken, who desperately wanted to escape this situation, also slammed the table and stood up. Viretta placed a hand on her chest and carefully mulled over Iola’s words.
“I might continue to be your fiancée in the future… or I might not be. Yes, I understand that part.”
“Exactly.”
Her eyes widened, and she shouted energetically.
“So what you’re really saying is that we should stake our lives to slay a dragon so that we don’t remain engaged in the future. Honestly, you didn’t have to make it so complicated. Betting our lives is no big deal!”
“Right. A life’s only worth fifty silver coins anyway. We can gamble it anywhere! We’ll make sure you end up strangers, so let’s not use difficult words.”
That was not the correct answer either.
Watching the two of them confidently spew nonsense, it was clear they were not in a normal state of mind. This was exactly the moment when he should have said, ‘Shall I explain again?’
But Viretta was burning with firm resolve, and Ranken, swept up by the mood, was already shouting about hunting a dragon. They were even talking enthusiastically about risking their lives to do so.
Iola took a deep breath and shouted sincerely,
“Yes! I’ll stake my life as well! Let’s leave immediately!”
He was, quietly, an opportunist.
* * *
While the First Dragon-Hunting Strategy Meeting was running aground, Medlidge Manor was like a small boat caught in a violent storm.
Two days remained until the engagement ceremony. Guests from all regions had gathered and were staying in the manor and nearby inns—yet the very people meant to be engaged were nowhere to be found.
Even the married daughter and the son studying in the capital had returned promptly, yet the daughter in question and her future husband were absent.
After searching inside and outside the estate for the missing couple, Cadlen and Monain found only a single letter.
[Beloved Father,
I will be going to hunt a dragon with my dear fiancé.]
A sentence that completely defied ordinary human understanding.
“……”
“……”
A dragon? Why? With her fiancé? Of all times, with only two days left before the engagement ceremony?
“Is this some kind of code, in-law? Or perhaps merchant jargon? Does the word ‘dragon’ mean something else?”
“I wish that were the case……”
Cadlen trailed off mournfully.
No matter how they broke down the wording, it made no sense—but then again, Viretta’s letters were always like that.
Now that it had happened, there was nothing to be done. Cadlen cleared his throat and gestured for Monain to sit.
“There is something about my daughter that I have not told you.”
“Yes.”
That “yes” was extremely sharp.
“Viretta is bright, energetic, healthy, and capable of getting along well with her fiancé. I can guarantee that. However, there is just one… problem. Her exaggerations are a little stronger than most people’s. Just a little.”
That little exaggeration had led Viretta to go hunt a dragon.
“Are you saying she lies habitually?”
“No, no. Lying is malicious. My daughter’s exaggerations don’t hurt anyone. She doesn’t commit serious wrongdoing either. Viretta’s exaggerations are… sly. If she saw a large hawk, she’d say she saw a monstrous bird as big as a house.”
This wasn’t just because she was his daughter. Cadlen had tolerated Viretta’s exaggerations because she only embellished her own experiences and the outside world for fun.
No one suffered if Viretta went around saying,
“I beat a wolf to death eight times and rescued a princess!”
Likewise, saying,
“I’ll go find my destined partner from a past life!”
or
“I’m going to hunt a dragon!”
Naturally excluding Ranken from his mental accounting, Cadlen continued,
“She’s the kind of child who would shout that she’s hunting a dragon even when she’s just going on a simple picnic. It’s a very minor flaw.”
Still, it was something he had concealed throughout the engagement proceedings.
Cadlen braced himself for Monain’s harsh reaction—but unexpectedly, Monain looked as though he had something to feel guilty about. Lowering his voice, he said,
“There is also something about my son that I have not told you.”
“Yes.”
This “yes” was filled with anxiety.
“Iola may not be suited to life as a mercenary, but he is skilled, intelligent, and upright in character. However, there is one problem. He believes other people far too easily.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
It was far better than womanizing, gambling, or violent drunkenness.
“It means he might fully believe Miss Viretta when she says she’s going to hunt a dragon.”
“Haha… surely not.”
“And for the past half year, he’s been saying he wants to visit a dragon’s nest. So… it’s possible that his intentions align with Miss Viretta’s.”
“……”
“……”
Silence settled between the two in-laws—so still it felt like one could hear cold sweat dripping.
It was the moment they realized that each of them had been hiding a fatal fact.
The first to break the silence was Cadlen, the seasoned merchant.
“Well, everyone has one or two minor flaws.”
“H-ha ha. Indeed.”
“H-heh heh heh. Yes, yes.”
“Ha ha, hahahat……”
“Hahat, huhahaha……”
Both sides felt vaguely as though they had been swindled into a bad contract.
* * *
Viretta’s group stood tall in the mountains. They pushed through dense trees and undergrowth as they climbed higher along the rugged slopes.
“Aren’t we going straight to hunt the dragon?”
“I did say we’d leave immediately, but we shouldn’t rush. And when I thought about it, I realized we need to resolve our biggest source of anxiety first.”
“You mean the inevitable flow of time leading us toward death?”
“That’s something we can worry about later. There’s a more urgent matter.”
“The widespread structural exploitation and oppression of the masses across the world?”
“The concern that my father might get stabbed to death by Lord Monain’s sword. If we don’t attend the engagement ceremony, both of them will worry terribly.”
Worry was fine—but bloodshed was not. Viretta still didn’t want to give up her relationship with Iola, so she couldn’t allow her future father-in-law to go on a rampage. Besides, even disciplining a precious father through violence was frowned upon.
Adjusting her pack, Viretta looked around.
“So first, we hunt a smaller animal than a dragon as a test and send it as a gift. Wouldn’t that reassure them that we really did go dragon hunting?”
“And what about the sight of a blood-soaked animal corpse being delivered to the middle of a carefully planned engagement celebration?”
Ranken replied flatly while adjusting his clawed rope.
Imagining a mangled beast laid out in the center of the banquet hall, Viretta reconsidered.
“That’s a problem. Let’s just send the head.”
